Wendy’s ground beef thought to be Oregon E. coli culprit

A case at a second Wendy’s in Tualatin has been linked to the Wendy’s E. coli outbreak. So far Marler Clark has been contacted by eight families affected. We filed one lawsuit on behalf of Robert Pascal of Salem a week ago.
The investigation is now focusing on ground beef. The connection was made after a second Wendy’s restaurant in Tualatin was linked to the outbreak when an adult female was confirmed Sept. 2 as an E. coli victim. The DNA of the E. coli matched that of the Salem outbreak, confirming a common contamination source.
No other outbreaks have been uncovered, and the total number of confirmed cases remained at 19. Nineteen others are likely cases but were not tested in time to catch evidence of E. coli. There are 49 suspected cases without bloody diarrhea.
Investigators initially considered lettuce as a source of contamination. But the Tualatin restaurant gets its produce from a different supplier, making that connection improbable. The investigation then shifted to the meat, which went to both restaurants from a common supplier. The lettuce link can be explained by cross contamination, which may have occurred because of improper food handling.